harvest – Penny Reilly Artist Beyond the Gate

It’s not always a bed of roses… or carrots…

As self-sufficiency and homesteading skills are shared (and methods sold) across social media, verging on hysteria, I need to say, please don’t get sucked in by the romanticism set before you. It’s not about going backwards to the Middle Ages, rather to embrace old ways of being and bring them into this century. Many apparently, don’t understand the concept of off grid living, assuming we are completely without any form of electricity at all… this is a myth. A good solar unit generates as much power needed to run a normal household. Fridge, freezer, computers, TV, lighting, power tools, my studio tools, etc., etc… we live simply but not in the dark ages and are careful not to overload the system with unnecessary gadgets. We don’t, for instance own a dishwasher (water catchment and storage are more important)… and, we have two pairs of hands.

Words are often thrown at me, such as, ‘you’re so lucky’. Well, sorry folk, there’s no luck involved, it’s methodical planning. It’s sometimes extraordinarily hard work to feed a community from a veggie patch, greenhouse and orchard. It’s weather dependent; seasonal, so it means planning ahead… it means growing what you like but also what grows well and in season, in your particular area. It’s no good my attempting to grow mangoes in a cold climate anymore than Brussel sprouts grow well in far North Queensland… and then there is the pests and predator balance to uphold.

We dreamed for many years as our children grew and set out on their own life path. We grew our own veggies and fruit to some extent and had a few hens but with four growing kids and us both working full time… you know, rates, mortgage, utilities, car registration, insurances, school fees and uniforms and running around madly taking the kids to one place or another. It was a busy life and our dream was on hold to own acres of rural land. Where we lived was like a mini trial run for the farm.

Things suddenly changed… the kids were gone, we both had jobs that we weren’t particularly content with and as things would have it, we found ourselves on the brink of making that change.

Many years ago, we found our acres in Victoria in the forested and rolling green hills, with an old derelict, 100 year old plus, barn and a derelict dairy. It’s a long tale as to how we found and acquired it, but I’ll save it for the book, currently in the writing process. (Watch this space, as the saying goes.) Needless to say, it’s a magical tale, but luck really has nothing to do with it, and we still had to work to pay for the land and for setting up the farm.

We dreamed and fulfilled our dream and then the hard work began… renovating, building greenhouses, planting an orchard and fruit vines… none of which was free. Self-sufficiency is a hard won lifestyle… we saved and had a state of the art solar system installed, which we never regret spending our money on. Even so, there are still rates to pay, a tractor, fuel for tractor and hay/grass slasher, hen feed for winter, storage containers for produce, a freezer, a dehydrator, a water pump, a generator for auto-backup in uber-cold winters, when the sun is a bit light on, (despite a battery array for storing electricity), and not to mention the cost of building everything, (and we used as much recycled timber and iron as we could lay our hands on) such as bathroom, kitchen, a plumber, a solar electrician. (A must to do properly for certificates.)

Our barn/build reno, we designed and built ourselves, but then there’s planning and building permits, site inspections…. And, and, and!

Often people are caught up in the pretty pictures on social media of women in flowing dresses and straw hats skipping between overflowing, perfectly manicured vegetable beds, with equally manicured fingernails and full makeup! Photos of buffed, bronzed young men, scything and bringing in the hay harvest, single handed, while children and women, serve lunch on gleaming platters, smiling smugly and all clean and tidy… this is Hollywood style.

Then there are those pics and reels of women in floral aprons, mixing and baking, chopping and filling glass jars, with not a stain or a sticky batch of cores and peelings to be seen, when a very messy kitchen is far more the reality of homesteading. Super clean, but very messy and outside in the garden, nature is messy too, not neat rows of equally sized plants, denuded of weeds around them. There has to be biodiversity, companion planting for natural bug control and a wild garden to me is the prettiest garden but none of the above are reality. Gardening is becoming a part of nature, not controlling it… or a least attempting to and that’s a fools game.

I paused while writing this to take a short break and, lo and behold, there was an ad for an online course on Instagram on how to decorate interiors in farmhouse style. Once again, I collapsed in giggles… this is not a show or a rehearsal for life… it’s real; make it your own!

So below are a few very random shots of our barn interior… clean, often a little untidy with kitchen doings and goings on… the dining room table is covered with greenhouse plans for the new build in progress but I haven’t photoshopped, or teased to make it idyllically pretty… but it is… it’s home, it’s us… and my kitchen window has a view to our northwest boundary and the dam.

Anyone beginning this journey needs to find a middle road between fantasy and reality. Yes, a healthy body is the result of constant work outside in the fresh air, and we may well sit outside at sunset with a luscious platter of homegrown produce, but often by that time, we’re happily exhausted and often quite grubby, so dinner and a movie are often the more likely outcome to day’s end.

But then… I pause again at stove or sink in my very rustic kitchen, to listen to the birds call, admire a vase of fresh-cut roses and bunches of herbs hanging to dry. I watch the creatures that come and go through our farm from forest edge across to forest edge on the other side and I smile… because the hard work, while dreaming, working with and watching, all this life, is worth more than a hefty bank balance, it’s worth the dirty hands, muddy shoes, and wet winters. A constant cycle of observances like seasonal rituals of abundance, (most years) emerge and gratitude overflows for the fact that we dared to take the steps needed to slow the pace of our working years, moving us into a loose, rhythmic dance of life…

Waiting

for the world

to shift a gear

to slow the pace

of a working year

Slow down

let the season

show the way

drifting

into shorter nights

a longer day

Let go

the thought of chores

instead

honour what you have

what is yours

Make each moment count

appreciate the quality

not the amount

Let go

the broken thoughts

the lost dreams

the might have beens

Refocus

your misted-over dreams

as a silken breeze

indicates the change

open windows

take stock

rearrange

Think less to control

allow the flow

meander

ramble on

waiting for a heart response

Hold what is dear

close there

in a silent prayer

of gratitude

then breath

…let all else go

So don’t be fooled… this lifestyle is a philosophy about doing our bit to help this beautiful planet recover from the dreadful things we’re continuing to do as a species, and in full knowing that we’re killing the only place we have to live.

Recycle, refurbish, renew, reupholster, repurpose. Celebrate what you have.

We grow food that is free of any additives, unpackaged, raw foods, full of nutrition, (because we take care of the soil to keep it rich in nutrients) because seriously… there is no Planet B. But, if this life calls you, don’t be disillusioned, get dirty and creative, grow your own food and reconnect with the seasonal tides and shifts… dive in and feel free to chat if you need an understanding of the process we’ve experienced everyday for nearly thirty years and we wouldn’t change a thing… not even for a photo shoot of me in a flowing dress, silver hair loose and tangled, skipping through fields of wildflowers… and although I can/could… it’s done in secret without manicure or makeup, accompanied by hens and a crazy wee doglet… 😀

I don’t need

sparkly objects

…I have the stars

nor heavy, expensive rugs

I have the lush green grass

…a bed of fallen leaves

Man made perfumes

I need not

for wildflowers bloom here

moss and lichen

add their earth tones

on the fragrant skin of trees

Give me this

and the call of birds

…to dive into

With warm wishes and blessings…

Penny

Author of nine books, with number ten on the way, and a professional artist/photographer and herbalist, you can also find Penny on Instagram and Facebook.

Changing skies… changing landscape… changing year…

I took a wee sabbatical and it’s been a couple of weeks since my last post but brightest blessings for 2024.

Family gatherings have been high on the priority list and with their departure it’s been more difficult for me to get myself back into a routine of daily writing. It’s been an interesting time, social media and blog free and very tempting to remain so but as author and artist it’s ‘the way’ to maintain a presence and to, as we all have do, make a living… although I try not to push my work on my followers and subscribers.

Before we knew it, another year passed and we’re half way through January. Flux and change have been the predominant aspects of these last years more than ever and I think we all may need to reimagine our lives, even reinvent ourselves, to find a simpler way of being that encompasses change and allows for more of a flow through.

Perpetual flow

rolling in

season to season

Blessed days of sunshine

rain and shadow

reflected

in how we

walk our way

in balance

wading

through emotional

waters deep

or rivulet shallow

or exhilarated

dive

immersing self

into life

and grounded

let seeds fall

in fields, once fallow

Needing less, wanting less, declutters our spaces, just as it declutters our entire lives… freeing us from having to maintain and care for items long redundant. I’m really not saying we rid ourselves of cherished items, loved for many reasons or to live the lives of monks and nuns, but rather to see how clearing space of physical things, also clears our internal space, our very consciousness, of so much neediness. There are always others that truly need what we hang onto, senselessly. I don’t do New Year’s resolutions quite honestly but this could be just the one we can easily adhere to… letting go those out-worn things.

We started our yearly declutter in the pantry, cleaning and checking use-by dates on home preserves or canned good and checking that dry goods such as flour or cereals were not invaded by weevil. What a simple task and yet what a lovely feeling to know our pantry is clean and renewed… actually making room for this year’s harvest as it comes around.

This is abundance for me… fruit and vegetables, flowers in bloom; mostly those that provide sustenance and that can be frozen, dried or bottled/preserved in a well stocked pantry that is constantly used and replenished as produce is harvested. No clutter to be seen ☺️

This year our olive trees flowered profusely but whether they will produce after the very cool wet summer we’ve had is another matter. Their scent is wonderful and their bloom so delicate and pretty.

As the summer season heads towards autumn at a frightening speed. and Lughnasadh is but three weeks away, hay harvest is done and there is an early chill on the air… although our summer’s are getting cooler and more like those of twenty five years ago. Our deciduous trees are changing their cloaks of green to amber hues very early, dahlia are in bloom and autumn berries are already ripening in the hedgerows.

…and so the wheel turns on again, birth, renewal, harvest, death and rebirth cycles on and on… where do you find your peace in the war-torn landscape of life?

There is a place

that we can go

beyond the muddy

tales of woe

where waters pool

in depths that glow

with dreams of hope

renewing

where bee-sung songs

drone of peace and plenty

bird-chorus sings

of a life never empty

With nature’s rhythm

gently flow

barely rippling the grass

…walk softly

In stillness lies

a sense of peace

within the mists

and the sound of wings

and in the silence between

a song up-drifts

and bird calls

the heart uplifts

our senses soar

in stillness growing

in deepest silence

across waters flowing

In nature’s rhythm

gently flow

barely rippling the grass

…walk softly

Wishing you all peace in 2024…

Penny

Beyond the Gate Studio and Farm

A seasonal spin…

Sorry, sorry… it’s been a while… late February and the season is already shifting from summer into autumn… a strangely cool summer and wet, too. A week or so ago there was a major storm in our region but once again, it skirted around our hilltop home acres. Let’s hope today’s storm warning does the same, although a drop more rain now would be wonderful to top up ponds and rainwater tanks. ‘Beyond the Gate,’ feels like a place centred in the magic of the earth and the kindly spirit; the Genius loci, is one of benevolence, strength and protection.

The last few mornings has seen us veiled in peat-scented, eucalyptus-perfumed, mists. Temperatures have been dropping from mid to high twenties, down to five to six degrees overnight… a very early change indeed as February has the tendency to be the hottest, summer month even in our naturally cooler climate. Not so however for surrounding areas, sadly, as wildfires rage, about ninety kilometres away, with great intensity.

At this time of year, creatures begin to go to ground… curling up in the long and probably exhausted sleep, after the courtship rituals and birthing of new generations is complete. That said, I saw the strange sight of a brand new wood duck, duckling family very late in the season. This couple lost almost their entire first clutch in spring to hawk and fox, so second time around is hopefully the charm, with nine wee ones as shown below.

Hedgerows are filled with crabapples, blackberries, rowan, hawthorn and elderberries… sometimes I feel as if I’m back in the Isles on an autumn day, where we would forage along country lanes and across the wild fields of my childhood… perhaps our deep connections from one place to another, links us on the byways between worlds… opening portals to remembered places of well-being and allowing the recall of those days to manifest elsewhere.

All things and places in the pathways of our mind are linked to another… everything is connected, spreading out to infinity like a tapestry of shining threads. Perhaps the Fae of those past days along with our ancestral culture, follow us down these lanes where our spirit was the happiest.

There’s a doorway

that takes us

to a timeless space

where all that we dream

may be found in one place

Offering ourselves

to the byways between

brings truth to our journey

to where we’ve already been

We can never go back

only here in the now

do we remember those times

when we made a sacred vow

to walk the crooked pathways

turning left and then right

beyond pain and pleasure

beyond the fear of night

to journey out of the darkness

into the warmth

…of Her light

…and so the season changes, the year moves on, hurtling towards Mabon/Alban Elued (Light of the Water) or autumn equinox to many.

Our harvest time is abundant… cabbages, lettuce, tomatoes, blueberries, strawberries, raspberries, apples, rhubarb, onions, garlic and soon, pumpkin will form on the vines and table grapes, too… not to mention more herbs than we could possibly use, are hanging to dry in the dark, to retain their colour, some to be made into pesto to freeze. I’ve begun the process of making preserves, freezing and drying to top us up with fresh produce for winter.

This year, so much has been achieved already with groundwork done for a second greenhouse and four young hens added to our small flock as the older girls ceased laying… they will enjoy their elder days, foraging in the garden and still providing wonderful nutrients for our soil.

Everything in balance… to harvest and replace, equals renewal!

Perpetual flow

rolling in

season to season

Blessed days

of sunshine

and shadow

reflected

in how

we walk our way

in balance

…wading

through emotional

waters deep

or rivulet shallow

or exhilarated

dive

immersing self

in life

and grounded

let seeds fall

in fields

…once fallow

I promise to attempt to be more regular with my posts… summer/autumn are naturally busy times Beyond the Gate and in the quieter places between, my work continues on the tenth book, Wild Spirits Live Beyond the Gate… a book of days and new art, photography, poetry and text are currently simmering in the creative cauldron.

Until next time… keep well…

Walk softly…

Awen /|\

Penny